The very first play of the second half in Saturday night's Bears-Packers wild card thriller set the tone for the home team's historic comeback.
While the Packers held a 21-3 halftime lead and received the ball out of the break, the Bears defense needed just one stop to create momentum and reinvigorate Soldier Field's largest crowd of the season. On first-and-10 from the Green Bay 20, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen sent cornerbacks Nahshon Wright and Jaylon Johnson on a blitz from opposite sides of the line of scrimmage.
Wright quickly pressured Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who escaped the pocket only to be chased down and hit by pass rusher Montez Sweat as he threw the ball away.
Queue a roar from the 60,000-plus fans who had been anxiously waiting for a moment to let their energy out.
On the next play, middle linebacker D'Marco Jackson timed up a blitz perfectly, rushing through the middle of the Packers offensive line to put a halt to Josh Jacobs' rush just a half-second after he took the handoff, pushing the Packers behind the sticks.
The cheers grew louder.
Third-and-12 turned into a three-and-out when pass rusher Austin Booker closed in on Love, who pump faked before throwing an incomplete pass into the dirt.
56 seconds into the second half, and Soldier Field was once again rocking as the slight chance of a possible comeback likely flooded every Bears fan's mind.
"That just gave our guys a little bit of confidence," Allen said. "And look, confidence is born in demonstrated ability. We didn't play as well as we needed to in the first half, so for us to come out, get a stop early — you know you're not going to win it on one series. But you've gotta get the first stop. And that gives you a chance.
"And then all of a sudden you get another stop and then the momentum starts to swing in your direction a little bit, and momentum's real in our league."
That first three-and-out put a bit of pressure, literally and figuratively, on the Packers offense and energized the entire home sideline. The Bears followed with a scoring drive on their next series, which was capped off by Cairo Santos' 34-yard field goal.
"We knew that we needed to get the ball back in the offense's hands, and we knew they were gonna make plays and get points on the board," Jackson said. "But also with our supporters in the stands, when you get that three-and-out, and you hear the crowd ramping up, it just kind of feeds you. It feeds me as a player.
"I love when it gets loud, they're trying to check, so it makes it more visible to us what they're trying to do. So it's a real thing with that crowd effect."
That first three-and-out itself was huge, but the nature of that possession — with different players making an impact on each of the three plays — enhanced the group's belief in one another.
"When I had that TFL, it created a spark in me personally," Jackson said. "And when other guys make big plays, I get ramped up for them, like, let's go. Then for me, when I make a play, it's that same thing throughout the defense. But it was really just getting pressure on the QB and not let him sit back there and have all the time in the world to throw the ball."
Jackson, who played an integral role in the defense's second-half success, came into the game not having taken middle linebacker reps in practice the week prior. But when T.J. Edwards suffered an injury early in the second quarter, Jackson took over as the defensive play caller.
Assuming play-calling responsibilities on short notice has been Jackson's calling card since Week 11, when the linebacking corps was riddled with injuries and the third-year pro stepped up in his first career start, recording a career-high 15 tackles in a 31-28 win over Pittsburgh.
On the biggest stage of his career to date, Jackson — who was drafted by Allen and the Saints in 2023 — once again showed up prepared for the moment.
"He's been a part of the system for a long time," Allen said. "And I think he's done a great job taking advantage of the opportunities that he's been given. We've used him in multiple different roles, as a Mike linebacker, as a Sam linebacker, and he just goes in there and does a really good job of executing his responsibility.
"But I do think the fact that he's been in the system and understands what we're trying to get accomplished is beneficial for our whole team, just in terms of the communication."
One three-and-out by the Bears defense turned into a second, then a third. Before they knew it, Allen's group had held Green Bay scoreless in the third quarter. And less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Bears continued cutting into their deficit, which sat at 21-9 with 13:29 remaining.
Momentum continued to build as the defense forced another three-and-out on Green Bay's first fourth-quarter possession, thanks to a run stop by defensive end Dominique Robinson, a pass breakup by Johnson and more pressure by Sweat that resulted in Love's second intentional grounding penalty of the night. The offense finally broke through on their ensuing drive, scoring their first touchdown, a D'Andre Swift 6-yard run, to make it a one-score game at 21-16.
While Booker recorded the group's only sack of the night, the defense totaled eight quarterback hits on Love, including three from Sweat, which coach Ben Johnson recognized in the postgame locker room celebration by awarding the veteran pass rusher a game ball for being "around that quarterback the entire second half."
That consistent pressure also allowed the linebackers and secondary to play tighter in coverage and better anticipate Love's throws.
"The stat line might not show it, but I felt like Book, Grady, Dex, Tez, all them boys, they were really causing havoc on their quarterback," Jackson said. "They were really getting pressure. They were affecting his throwing, forcing inaccurate passes or dropped balls. So they were a huge key to us getting back in that game."
Even though the defense gave up one more touchdown to the Packers with 6:36 left, quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense were rolling at that point. After that Green Bay touchdown which gave the visitors a 27-16 lead, Williams connected with Olamide Zaccheaus for an 8-yard score, converted the subsequent two-point try on a throw to Colston Loveland and hit DJ Moore from 25 yards out for the go-ahead score on the Bears' next possession to give them a 31-27 lead.
It would be up to the defense to ice the game with 1:43 remaining.
"I was sitting down on the bench during that final touchdown," Jackson said. "I knew offense was about to do that. So I wasn't really surprised. In my head, I'm thinking, 'Hey, it's time to go out and shut these boys out. I feel like we've been in this position, and now it's time for defense to go out and close it out.'"
The final drive lasted what felt like an eternity, despite using up less than two minutes of actual game clock. With the defense's sole goal being keep the Packers out of the end zone to preserve the win, Allen said the group played "great situational defense" through the 11-play series and forced Green Bay "to have to earn it."
Still, it all came down to the final play from the Chicago 28-yard line with seven seconds remaining. With the defense shifting into a different package, which included just three defensive linemen, one linebacker and seven defensive backs, Jackson had to watch from the sideline as Love fumbled the snap and scrambled around before launching a pass to the end zone that hit nickel back Kyler Gordon and fell incomplete.
"I was right there, ready to go if needed, and as soon as I saw the ball hit the ground, I ran out and just fell to my knees, like, 'Man, God's great,'" Jackson said. "And then again, how our supporters stayed there for us, how we kept fighting, and we just came out with a belief that we weren't out of the game. And we showed that."
Closing out the largest postseason comeback in franchise history was a monumental moment for Allen and the Bears defense that brought their second-half adjustments full circle, as the final play created stadium-shaking chaos throughout Soldier Field that began with those initial three-and-outs in the third quarter.
"It was awesome," Allen said. "You feel the crowd and I think we feed off the crowd. I think the crowd feeds off of us. And so that synergy together between the crowd and the play on the field, that also brings a lot of confidence to the football team. It was a great atmosphere against our biggest rival with a lot on the line and a high-stakes environment.
"And that's why we do what we do, to be able to play in those types of games, and really just glad we were able to get out of there with the win."
